I had an interesting year in 2005. After over 11 years of marriage I had finally gotten divorced. Being married since the ripe old age of 19 hadn’t really prepared me for single life. I’m a family man and enjoy being equally yoked to the right gal for me. Having never had engaged in online dating due to being married all those years, I really didn’t have much of a choice than to dive in and see what it was all about. Most my friends, at the time of my divorce were married or not quite the right people for me to hang with. I absolutely HATED being single. It was a good time for me to grow and reflect on life, however. Having just entered the world of contracting overseas, I knew whoever decided to hitch their wagon to me would be in for a real treat. Especially since I already had 3 little ones.
I tried the eHarmony thing but wasn’t quite sold on their super duper matching software. After spending about an hour or so filling out the application the results I got were not very promising. When I finally landed my first date on Match.com I thought this was gonna be it. Well, I quickly learned that, much like Facebook, don’t always believe the picture in the profile. The gal I met on the first date wanted to meet at Krispy Kreme. That should’ve been a sign. Anyhow, that didn’t work out. I talked to a few gals over the next couple weeks then I finally got a “wink”, “poke” or whatever Match does. It was from this gal who’d been married and divorced. No kids, had a job and seemed to have her stuff together. When I saw her profile pic I about came out of my chair. Long, black curly hair!! Man, she was real easy on the eyes. Like most people, I had a set criteria in my mind going into round 2 of dating and marriage.
- She had to be independent.
- Had to be college educated. (Even though I was not. I wanted to marry up.)
- Come from a family where both parents were still married.
- Raised in a Christian church. (That whole equally yoked thing.)
- Make decent money.
- Have a “real” job.
- Meet my physical requirements. (The hair was spot on. The other “physical attributes” was a home run. ;))
This gal fit the bill and then some. I was actually a bit worried about screwing it up! I knew she’d have to go through my mom’s vetting process if the relationship was to go anywhere. She checked out as a pretty good piece of gear. After a couple weeks of chatting on the Match site and a couple convo’s on the phone we had finally decided to meet. Here I was, this Redneck contractor Army guy, driving this lifted Dodge Durango with quite the full “Ruck Sack”. There she was, this gorgeous little gem in her Toyota Avalon. We met at a local park in town. When we got out we hugged, giggled and she hopped in my truck. I told her I had to get some stocking stuffers for my 3 kids. It was the morning of Christmas Eve 2005. We headed over to the Dollar Store for cheap plastic toys. This was my chance to see her operate in a permissive environment. After the shopping spree we had decided to go look at houses. I had been out of the dating scene for quite some time and wasn’t really sure what to do . I knew I wanted to find out what made her tick and watch her move. I also wanted to see how she thought and looked at things in the world. So, I figured going to look at houses was an interesting approach. During the ride around the area I thought I’d try to pull a fast one on her and to this day I still think it’s what sealed the deal. I had started a conversation about physical touch and the response on the human body. As an example I reached over and held her hand. GAME POINT, SET, MATCH!!! She had the softest hands I had EVER felt! I was ready to have babies and grow old with this gal!
After the hand holding bit we finished driving around and our date concluded with another hug and probably a high five. Later that evening we got together at my house and she helped me set out presents. While we were doing that, one of my kids woke up. She quickly picked him up and whisked him away to put him back to bed. Yeah, she’s a keeper. We hung out for a bit more then she went home. She was really playing “hard to get”. She wasn’t easy and that’s what I wanted. I wanted a challenge. A good hunt. She certainly gave it to me. Christmas was on Sunday and the next day, Monday, she invited me to join her and her family at Godfather’s Pizza for dinner. I obliged and met her family. Her dad was a Lieutenant Colonel in the Air Force. We got along just fine after some branch rival jabbing. The rest of her family seemed to check out alright. Her mom was quite a looker herself so I figured my wife would turn out well herself. I was right. The next day we went down to my family farm to meet my family and shoot some guns. Another test. Once again, she checked out. My kids seemed to like her along with the rest of my family. The rest is pretty much history.
Fast forward 4 months. We met on Christmas Eve 2005 and got married April 20, 2006. I spent 3 of those months in Pakistan. While at work, I had called her dad on a “Sat Phone” to ask for her hand in marriage. He gave me a short and sweet Colonel speech and approved. I got home on April 18th and the next morning we were on our way to Eureka Springs, Arkansas to “git hitched”. She took a couple girlfriends with her as our witnesses and support. I was flipped upside down on time zone stuff and had jet lag pretty bad. We made it through the ceremony and headed back home to pack our bags for my sister’s wedding in Cabo. Our secret honeymoon. We didn’t tell anyone we had gotten married for a couple weeks. Didn’t want to steal my sister’s thunder. Now, here we are. Christmas Eve 2018. We had a son together in 2010 and life has been pretty stellar! I’d say we’re more in love now than ever before. God has played a major role in our lives. He’s the glue that sticks marriages together.
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